Rail-joint.



PATENTED MM5, 1908. J. o. HAFPUYRD. l

RAIL JOINT.

Inventor /W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN COLMAN HAFFORD, OF LINCOLN, ARKANSAS,

ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO DAVID WILLIAM HARRISON AND ONE-THIRD TO VIRGEALBERT HAFFORD, OF LINCOLN,

ARKANSAS.

RAIL-JOINT;

I Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 5, 1908.

Application filed October 24, 1907. Serial No. 398,987.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN COLMAN HAF- FORD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Lincoln, in the county of IVashington and State ofArkansas, have invented a new and useful RailJoint, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention has relation to rail joints and it consists in the novelconstruction and arrangement of its parts as hereinafter shown anddescribed.

The object of the invention is to provide a means for eifectuallyholding the ends of rails together Without the use `of bolts or fishplates or other parts which lie beyond the general perimeter of therails. j

The base flanges of the rails are hollowed out upon their under side andat their end portions and a locking key is provided which ies in thespace occurring in the under side of the base anges of the rails andsaid key is provided at intervals upon its upper side with studs whichlie in openings provided in the webs of the rails and enter recesseslocated under the heads of therails. The rails are secured to the tiesby means of spikes usually em loyed for this purpose.

n the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective view of meetingrail sections provided With the rail joint. Fig. 2 is a transversesectional view of one of the rails and the joint cut on the line 2--2 ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 tion of one of the rails with the locking key removed,and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the locking key detached.

The rails 1 are provided at their ends and in the under side of theirbase flanges 2 with the hollow concavities 3 which are ada ted toreceive the body portion 4 of the loc 'ng key 5. Said key is providedupon its upper side and at regular intervals apart with verticallydisposed studs 6, the said studs lie in is a perspective view of the endpor-` alinement with the webs Tof the rails and in the recesses 8provided therein. The recesses 8 occur at the eXtreme end of the rails 1While the recesses 8 are in the vicinity of the ends of the rails butare spaced therefrom by portions of the web 7. The upper ends of thestuds 6 lie in the recesses 9 rovided in the under side of the heads 10o the rails 1, the spikes 11 secure the base flanges of the rails 1 tothe ties 12 in the usual manner. By this form of rail joint it will beobserved that the extreme ends of the rails 1 are supported by anintegral key Which extends across the joint With its end portions lyingat opposite sides of the meeting ends of the rai s. Also, it will beseen that the rails cannot move longitudinally with relation to eachother nor can the locking key move laterally Owith relation to therails.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is :d

In combination with rails having heads which abut directly one againstthe other so that the tread surfaces of the rails are continuous anduninterrupted by intervening parts', said rails having in their basesconcavities and in their webs recesses which are located at the ends andnear the ends of the rails and which project into the under sides of therail heads, a locking key having a base portion which fits Within theconcavities in the rail bases, and studs mounted upon the key Which liewithin the recesses in the rail webs and heads and which fit snuglyagainst the under sides of the rail heads.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN yCOLMAN HAFFORD.

Witnesses:

J W. COLE, V. A. HAFFORD.

